1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention herein pertains to a method for making a hairpiece, toupee or the like which conforms exactly to the cranium of the person who wears it.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There are numerous methods known for producing the configuration, in three dimension of the human head, and more particularly the cranium, in order to accomplish a wig, toupee, hairpiece or the like to be worn by the individual. Ordinarily these hairpieces are formed on an open network of fabric mesh, commonly known as "swiss silk" and to which a plurality of strands of hair are individually attached through commonly known knotting procedures. The fabric mesh is flexible and is attached to the wearer by an appropriate adhesive. In fact, the entire hairpiece can be folded and put into a pocket. Adhesively attached hairpieces however, are easily detached and despite commercially oriented representations that the wearer can do "just about anything", the reality of actual usage is quite to the contrary. Simply speaking, attachment is not reliable and as a result the industry has retreated to other methods of hair "replacement". These include "hair weaving" and "surgical implantation", both of which are either aesthetically temporary or expensive, or both. Due to the various deficiencies characterizing the products, referred hereto as "soft base hairpieces", numerous other efforts have been made in the prior art to construct wigs, toupees, and other forms of hairpieces which may be reliably worn by their user in substantially all human activities ranging from swimming to sleeping but none, upon best information and belief to the inventor hereof, have truly been able to honestly represent the accomplishment of a hairpiece that remains on the cranium of the person under substantially all circumstances.
Certain artisans in the prior art have contemplated that one method of accomplishing reliable attachment of a hairpiece to the cranium of the wearer would be to somehow produce a "vacuum" fit. This has the substantial inherent advantages of eliminating adhesives, obviating complex reweaving and forgiving the inconvenience, pain and expense of surgical implantation. The intention to accomplish this object is old and well known, but despite this fact a reliable and continuous vacuum attachment to the cranium has never been accomplished. One may see for example in U.S. Pat. No. 1,635,099, granted on July 5, 1927, that the inventor Seilaz conceived that "wigs adhere properly to the head only when they fit the shape of the head exactly so that air between the head and the wig escapes when the wig is placed on the head, and a vacuum is produced under the hood." The Seilaz method, though recognizing the possibility of a vacuum attachment, describes a "shaped part or form A" (FIG. 5) which fits the head exactly and consists of several superposed pieces of fabric 17 to 23. He then impregnates this fabric with rubber causing the fabric to retain the shape once given to it. The rubber however, is flexible and the vacuum seal, if any, between the cranium and a flexible, bendable rubber type of cap is easily broken and will not allow for continuous vacuum attachment. Moreover, such a hairpiece comprising sequential layers of rubber would be unbearably hot, uncomfortable and impractical. Furthermore, even Seilaz admits in his patent that the object to produce a vacuum is not likely accomplished. See column 2 of page 1 where the need for an adhesive is described.